Dubai - A fire ripped through one of the
world's tallest residential towers in Dubai on Friday, the
latest in a series of fires in tall structures in the United
Arab Emirates, the Gulf's tourism and business hub, over the
past three years.
Flames shot up the sides of the Torch tower in the second
blaze to hit the high-rise since 2015, forcing hundreds of
occupants to flee as burning debris showered down the sides of
the 337 metre-tall, 79-storey structure.
"We were sleeping and we woke up to the fire alarm and
people screaming. We ran down the stairs and it took us about 10
minutes to reach from the 50th floor," a resident who gave his
name as George told Reuters.
"It was very bad. The fire was very strong at that time,
about 1 a.m. Then it started calming down over the next two
hours," he added.
The tower was evacuated, no injuries were reported, and
there was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze.
But the incident may revive questions about the safety of
materials used on the exteriors of tall buildings across the
wealthy Gulf region and beyond.
An investigation by the management of the Torch after its
2015 fire found that most of the damage was to the cladding,
exterior panelling used for decoration or insulation.
Picture: AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili
DUST, DEBRIS
Police in Britain have said they believe the system of
insulation and cladding panels added during a refurbishment of
London's Grenfell Tower may have contributed to the rapid spread
of a fire there in June in which 80 people died.
The UAE revised its building safety code in 2013 to require
cladding on all new buildings over 15 metres (50 feet) tall be
fire-resistant, but older buildings are exempt.
Most of Dubai's approximately 250 high-rise buildings use
cladding panels with thermoplastic cores, UAE media have
reported. Panels can consist of plastic or polyurethane fillings
sandwiched between aluminium sheets.
Such cladding is not necessarily hazardous, but it can be
flammable under certain circumstances and, depending on a
skyscraper's design, may channel fires through windows into the
interiors of buildings.
Dubai's civil defence authorities said firefighting squads
put out the blaze around 4.00 am (0000 GMT) and were cooling the
building.
Firefighters and police sealed off surrounding streets,
which were partially covered by dust and debris.
By 4am the exterior of the building showed no sign of
fire as residents and onlookers stood around staring up at the
building, according to a Reuters witness.
SHELTER
Another resident, whose gave his name as Mohammed and lives
on the 12th floor, said the top part of the tower caught fire
first and then lower levels followed as debris fell.
The government said it was working on providing shelter for
those affected by the fire.
Dubai is one of seven emirates that make up the UAE, where
several residential compounds and hotels have been hit by fire
in recent years. In some of those cases, experts said the flames
may have been encouraged to spread by exterior cladding.
In August 2016 a fire swept through a 28-storey building
under construction in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, injuring 13
people, including 10 emergency service personnel.
Earlier that same month, a fire damaged part of a
multi-storey building under construction in Dubai and in July
2016 a fire broke out in Dubai's residential 75-storey Sulafa
Tower. On New Year's Eve 2015, a blaze hit a Dubai hotel.